Transferring a payload in a commercial aeroplane requires that the aeroplane is immobilized on the ground. This is the case when boarding passengers, but also when loading their luggage, or again when loading freight. In addition, settling passengers in their respective seats in the aeroplane may lengthen the aeroplane's period of immobilisation.
Air terminals habitually include multiple boarding rooms from which the departing passengers can reach their respective aeroplanes, possibly via a footbridge, or by means of a transfer in a land vehicle. These rooms sometimes also allow passengers to pass through them when deplaning.
These boarding rooms are generally accessible through an area dedicated to security controls intended to check the identities of the departing passengers, and to prevent prohibited objects being introduced into the cabin.
In order to limit the necessary area of the boarding rooms, access to each control area and each associated boarding room is generally authorised only when the aeroplane is available for boarding the passengers, so that the latter do not have to wait in the boarding room. As a consequence the aeroplane is also immobilized during the entire duration of the passenger control.
The operations to check the passengers, to board them and to load their luggage, and/or the freight loading operations, may consequently lead to periods of immobilisation on the ground of the aeroplanes which are greater than the time required for the pre-flight operations, such as the provision of fuel, the routine technical checks, cleaning of the passenger cabin, or again the preparation of the flight plan by the pilots.
And, generally, the period of immobilisation on the ground of the aeroplanes between two successive flights increases their operational cost. Indeed, the longer this period of immobilisation, the less the actual flight time of each aeroplane. A long period of immobilisation on the ground can also result in additional fuel consumption.
Furthermore, the internal configuration of the cabin intended to transport a payload in an aeroplane is determined when the aeroplane is manufactured, and cannot easily be modified during the aeroplane's period of commercial exploitation.
As a consequence, airlines which wish to offer different types of cabins, in particular different levels of comfort, according to the type of journey, the timetable, or for other reasons, must have more aeroplanes. This leads to additional costs for these airlines.
In addition, the production of an aeroplane includes testing before delivery, which requires a special modification of the passenger cabin, and therefore a subsequent modification of this cabin after testing, to prepare for the delivery of the aeroplane to its purchaser. Such a modification of the cabin increases the overall duration of the aeroplane's production cycle, and therefore its cost price.